While it's easy for the large miners to argue increased iron ore production is business as usual, the overall cost to the sector warrants a closer inspection.

Rio Tinto’s Mount Thorley-Warkworth mine in the Hunter Valley, which looks set to expand further. The NSW planning department says it would “not be reasonable” to require Rio Tinto “to completely or even partially backfill the final void”.
Lock The Gate Alliance/FlickrMarch 22, 2015

This latest part of our series on Russia’s relations with its neighbours focuses on the huge empty land of Mongolia, Moscow’s original Soviet satellite state in the 1920s. These days it sits on the verge…

“Biodiversity offsetting” – protecting animals and plants in one area to make up for negative impacts in another – is increasingly used by companies such as mining firms, as a way to boost their corporate…

A US Supreme Court decision last week damaged the legal options for holding corporations to account for human rights and environmental abuses.
PhilosophicalswagApril 26, 2013

The US Supreme Court has handed down a landmark decision that will have drawn sighs of relief from corporate boardrooms in Australia and around the world. Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum was brought by…

The replacement of Tom Albanese by Sam Walsh as Rio Tinto chief following write-downs on Riversdale Mining in Mozambique indicates some of the continuing difficulties of working in developing countries.
AAPJanuary 23, 2013

Two recent events have highlighted the potential pitfalls of miners doing business in developing states. The first was the departure of Tom Albanese as Rio Tinto’s Chief Executive following a $13.3 billion…

Forecasting commodity prices is like buying a second hand car. Only the car’s previous owner and perhaps the dealer really know what the car is actually like. In contrast you, the buyer, are an outsider…

The Mining industry’s “This is our Story” campaign showing the sector’s relationship with ordinary Australians may be part of a longer term strategy to avoid further taxation.
Screenshot from thisisourstory.com.au October 10, 2012

Have you wondered why those chipper ads that share the personal stories of mining workers are still being rolled out on TV and at cinemas? In one, I recently learned about a sweet group of women whose…

Chinese investment in smaller iron-ore suppliers in Western Australia not only presents challenges for the market power of the Big 3 mining companies, but also for the viability of iron ore projects in Australia.
AAPAugust 27, 2012

With several major mining projects being put on ice this week, talk has quickly turned to whether the Australian mining boom is about to go bust. Jumping on comments by the Resources Minister that “the…

Are sustainability-dependent executive bonuses the answer to saving the planet? Research recently conducted by the Centre for Corporate Governance at the University of Technology, Sydney, examined whether…

China will dominate global steel production, but Australia can have a future in high value steel making - if we don’t lose our nerve.
AAPApril 5, 2012

Recently, I met a friend at a conference in Japan. My friend is a specialist in steelmaking technology and, after a long successful career in Japan, had taken up a position in a Chinese Steel company called…